Author: Trevor Sherman

Trevor Sherman: Author, Blogger and Coach. What do I do? I develop leadership training material and personal learning modules. I am the owner and operator of this Blog. I coach senior executives for their development and role transition. I am based in Northamptonshire UK and operate globally - in person and through technology.

Is the British Prime Minister Coaching Her Cabinet Colleagues?

Coaching is being practiced at the very top of government

Parliamentary copyright images are reproduced with the permission of Parliament.

I have been a subscriber to the Spectator magazine for some time. In fact, it is the only ‘newspaper’ we take in my household. All of our other news arrives online. Once a week this noble publication, full of contemporary political and social commentary, slides through my letter box. Imagine my delight when a recent article by two top Spectator journalists seemed to imply that our British Prime Minister, Theresa May, is using the Coaching GROW model!

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Coaching is Blooming in Shanghai

Five years on and one of my Coaching Master Class participants is now running his own coaching programme for his managers.

I first visited Shanghai on business in 2009 and have returned a number of times since. I just love the bustle, the people, the parks and the gardens. The famous Yuyuan gardens pictured above is just one of many gorgeous places to experience. A promenade along the Bund on Sunday morning is another. But this is not a gardening website or a travelogue – it’s a Leadership Coaching Blog. So let’s get down to business shall we?

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Good Morning Jessica … Enjoy Life!

“Breath, breath …. enjoy life” Say good morning to Jessica Applewhaite-Walters, life coach from Panama.

I had the pleasure of working with Jessica in Panama when she was in the corporate world. Now she is working on her own account as a life coach for women. Take a look at her new website Jessica Coach.

As soon as you click the link you will smile. Guaranteed. Her smile, the uplifting music and her cheerful persona are infectious. Good luck Jessica. I expect you to change the lives of women around the world.

As Jessica says on her video welcome: “Breath, breath …. enjoy life!“

Who is Really Listening?

If asking purposeful questions is the front end of coaching then active listening is the tail end where the real work gets done. But who is really listening?

A lot has been written about listening skills. I list some good further reading from eminent sources below. There is also ‘Levels of Listening’ in the Coaches Toolkit on this website. I recently decided to do my own research into the subject. OK, my research methods were a bit wonky and my sample sizes tiny …. however I thought I would share my findings and see what you think. Five things to avoid and five ideas to inspire.

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Coaching the Coach – Who, Why, When & What?

Are you a Leader of Leaders? If you have the responsibility for coaching leaders then you will appreciate that part of your role is coaching them to be better coaches. What are your coaching goals? When might you intervene? Why is this important? Who will you focus your discretionary coaching time on? Questions, questions, questions!


I was recently asked by one of our Blog Subscribers how I provide follow up coach-the-coach support to participants in my Coaching Master Class Program (CMC). He is aware of the CMC program but has not participated in it himself. Good question I thought. I know what I do, but I have never written it down for the benefit of others. So here we go. Let’s put that right and summarise coaching the coaches in two distinct phases: Phase 1 is immediately after the CMC training; Phase 2 is the ongoing workplace coach-the-coach support.

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Coaching for Performance #3 – REVIEWING

This is the third of three Posts on the subject of Performance Management and how the leader can drive for results with coaching. Post #3 – Reviewing Performance. The other two are Planning Performance and Supporting Performance.

What does reviewing performance involve a leader doing? What options does the leader have for the way they invest their time? How does the leader add value? What are typical coaching goals? What resource material does the leader need as a platform for the coaching? What tools does the leader need from the Coaches Toolkit? I start with an overview of coaching for reviewing performance. I then draw on the experience of two senior leaders I have worked with and observed in action.

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Coaching for Performance #2 – SUPPORTING

This is the second of three Posts on the subject of Performance Management and how the leader can drive for results with coaching. Post #2 – Supporting Performance. The other two are Planning Performance and Reviewing Performance.

What does supporting performance involve a leader doing? What options does the leader have for the way they invest their time? How does the leader add value? What are typical coaching goals? What resource material does the leader need as a platform for the coaching? What tools does the leader need from the Coaches Toolkit? I start with an overview of supporting for performance. I then draw on the experience of two senior leaders I have worked with and observed in action.

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Coaching for Performance #1 – PLANNING

This is the first of three Posts on the subject of Performance Management and how the leader can drive for business results with coaching. Post #1 – Planning Performance. The next two are Supporting Performance and Reviewing Performance.

What does planning performance involve a leader doing? What options does the leader have for the way they invest their time? How does the leader add value? What are typical coaching goals? What resource material does the leader need as a platform for the coaching? What tools does the leader need from the Coaches Toolkit? I start with an overview of planning performance. I then draw on the experience of two senior leaders I have worked with and observed in action.

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A Shark or a Fish

“Either you work hard for it, or you don’t work hard for it. Well, me and my brother, we work hard for our stuff. It don’t come easy. In life, you have to work. Either you want to be the shark of the ocean or the fish of the ocean…strength, no weakness!”

Do you want to be a Shark or a Fish? Check out the motivational wisdom of this nine year old on YouTube “Don’t Put Yourself Down, Motivate Yourself, Keep Yourself Up”. See his 45 second motivational YouTube Video that went viral on Facebook.

Leadership Interview: Caroline Wu ‘My Coaching Journey’

We follow the fortunes of a senior leader in China over a four year period as she learns and applies her coaching skills in three different and progressively more senior job roles and ends up Managing Director of a significant business unit with full P&L responsibility.

I first started working with the Top Team at Maersk Line East China Cluster (PRE) in Shanghai when I visited them in April 2011 to kick off the Coaching Master Class program. Caroline Wu was a member of the senior management team and starting out on her coaching journey.

I was very fortunate to be working with Caroline at that time. She translated my facilitator guide into Mandarin for the train-the-train roll out of the program. She also co-facilitated the program with me the following year for the North China Cluster (PRN) in Qingdao.

Here she reflects on that journey four years on. Caroline has been promoted twice in that period. I was lucky enough to capture her thoughts on her coaching journey at each stage. What has she learned along the way? What can we learn from her experiences?

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